Alert reader gets Niskayuna light fixed

Q: The traffic light at Balltown Road and Lexington Parkway in Niskayuna seems to have a bad setting. As soon as a vehicle triggers the sensor on Lexington, the light changes on Balltown, even if the light just changed to green.

I have had to sit through three light cycles trying to travel on Balltown Road because of this light. It seems to me there should be some sort of timer that would allow the green light to be on for a certain period of time before it would go red. I have seen the green light for Balltown Road be on for less than five seconds, allowing only one car to transit. This really makes travel not smooth at this intersection.

I contacted the town of Niskayuna, and they said this signal is controlled by the state Department of TransportationT. I looked on the DOT website, and I can’t find any information on how to report this light to the correct office. I hope you have better contacts.

— Mike Hayes, Colonie

A: It should be fixed now.

“Our Traffic Signal Maintenance Crew visited the signal this morning and found a malfunctioning piece of equipment, which they immediately replaced,” DOT spokeswoman Carol Breen told us Tuesday morning. “This signal at Lexington Parkway is wired to the adjacent signal at Niskayuna High School in order to coordinate the vehicle movements for traffic exiting and entering the school. The malfunctioning hardware was causing the signal to cycle too quickly.”

Breen also provided information on how to notify DOT in case of future problems: Call the emergency number at 388-0346. The line is always answered, she said, and DOT’s traffic signal maintenance crew is on call at all times to respond to signal malfunctions.